Voucher advocates ignore Prop. 305 defeat
School choice backers focus on Legislature
Less than a day after the crown jewel of their school choice policies was crushed at the ballot box, prominent school choice advocates doubled down by calling for the Arizona Legislature to promote school choice and vouchers laws.
Both the Goldwater Institute and American Federation for Children issued statements backing school choice in the hours after voters rejected by a 65-35 percentage difference Proposition 305, a massive expansion of school vouchers.
The vote overturned the Empowerment Scholarship Account expansion that would have allowed all 1.1 million Arizona public school students to use public money to attend private school. The number of students receiving the money would have been capped at 30,000.
In a statement to supporters, the Goldwater Institute said “the fight for school choice continues.”
“Empowerment Scholarship Accounts help families create a custom educational experience— one as unique as each child. Unfortunately, school choice opponents were successful in denying this option to all Arizona families, regardless of income,” Goldwater Institute President Victor Riches said in the statement.
“Across the country, ESAs have garnered the support of Republicans and Democrats alike because they provide a commonsense way for families to help pay tuition, provide tutoring, and purchase the tools they need to give their students the best chance at success in school and down the road.”
He said other states — including North Carolina and Florida — have followed Arizona and instituted ESAs for selected students.
“Arizona has been a national leader on the path to greater school choice for families,” Riches said. “The Goldwater Institute will continue the fight to give students and their families a greater say in their education in Arizona and across the country.”
Meanwhile, American Federation for the Children congratulated Republican Gov. Doug Ducey for defeating “antischool choice” candidate Democrat David Garcia in the race for governor.
“Governor Ducey is a pro-education, pro-school choice Governor whose leadership has resulted in higher pay for teachers as well as more educational choice options for families,” said the statement from AFC’s Arizona communication director Kim Martinez. “Ducey is a staunch supporter of Arizona’s Empowerment Scholarship Account program, which helps disadvantaged children, many with special needs, access different types of schools or curriculum.”
The statement didn’t mention Prop 305. Neither AFC nor Goldwater Institute returned calls for comment.
Dawn Penich-Thacker, spokeswoman for Save Our Schools Arizona, the group that put the voucher expansion on the ballot, said she wasn’t surprised by the statements given that “privatizing education is their main priority so they are sticking to their guns.”
“There couldn’t be a more clear signal that they do not care what people want,” Penich-Thacker said. “Voters 2-to-1 said they are not interested in an expansion of vouchers and they are right there today working on an expansion of vouchers.”
She said Save Our Schools will work to counter their efforts.
“What is more interesting is whether the elected officials ... are going to choose to represent their constituents or be beholden to special interests,” Penich-Thacker said.
The ESA program gives parents 90 percent of the funding that would have otherwise gone to their local public school districts. The voucher money, loaded on debit cards, is intended to cover specific education expenses such as private- or religious-school tuition, home-school expenses and educationrelated therapies.
The expansion would have made the program about six times larger — it now serves about 5,600 students at a cost of about $62 million.
With the outcome of the Prop. 305 vote, the ESA rules will stay as they are now and the cap for next year will be about 9,500 students, limited to small group of students in six categories including special needs and failing schools rated D or F.
State Sen. Kate Brophy McGee, RPhoenix, who opposed expanding vouchers in recent years, said ESAs have “innumerable issues that must be addressed to continue this policy as is,” including a lack of accountability and oversight by state officials.
“Arizona has one of the most expansive arrays of school choice around the country already. We have inequities in funding that we are beginning to fix and we have finance reforms that must be examined in advance of any further expansion of vouchers or ESAs,” Brophy McGee said.
“I value the purpose for which ESAs were originally intended. I think the voters have spoken and we all need to take a deep breath and step back and do some consequential reforms before tackling this,” she said.